Laughter has an amazing special power. It’s therapeutic and keeps us young. It helps our minds stay sharp and relieves stress. It has a wonderful ability to keep us grounded, especially when we laugh at ourselves. Laughter is universal. It transcends languages and cultures.

Have you ever noticed how differently people react around folks who are always serious? A barrier seems to exist. People feel tight, sometimes nervous. However, once humor and laughter enter into the equation guards are dropped, people relax, and things progress in a more calm and open manner.

In working with thousands of business people from hundreds of companies, I’ve noticed that those folks who have lightness and laughter in their working lives appear to be much happier and more loyal employees. This translates into higher productivity and more efficient and effective environments. People actually enjoy going to work, are more likely to act harmoniously with others, and create more cohesive teams.

The same holds true at home. Laughter at home translates into a more stable family atmosphere.

The ability to laugh at one’s self also helps put life in perspective. We surround ourselves with things that we assign great significance to, such as our jobs, cars, houses and other trappings. However, at times, these possessions (or perhaps the acquisition of them) may cause us quite a bit of angst. Hopefully we can laugh at ourselves just by stepping back and asking, “What’s really important here?” You may find that the answers are our families, friends, health and love.

The leader who can steer his or her ship through troubled waters can use the tools of lightness and laughter to keep anxiety at lower levels. Employees will often mirror the mannerism of their leaders. Those individuals who can illustrate more relaxed and humorous tendencies may find that the people they depend upon to help the business run smoothly will be more apt to feel light, creative, motivated, and productive. This especially holds true during economic downturns when unsettling feelings may be more prevalent.

Building friendship within organizations helps cement the bonds necessary to make it through tough times. Organizations that exude lightness also tend to attract and retain customers. People can recognize the atmosphere of a company whose employees enjoy working there. Those same companies also understand that when employees transfer the light and caring style to their clientele, those customers are more likely to continue doing business with them.

Regardless of one’s leadership style, the individual leader must take on the aspects of a chameleon in order to relate to each employee in a manner that makes them feel at ease. Successful leaders are those who can create the desire in others to do what they want them to do while enabling them to want to do it.

Laughter and lightness, while not diminishing the seriousness of the actual tasks, can create results that make for highly successful organizations.